Editing Digitization (section)

==Analog texts to digital==
{{main|Book digitization}}
{{further|Text digitizing projects}}
[[File:Book scanner digitization lab university of Liège (2).jpg|alt=Image of a rare book in a book scanner where it will be digitized.|thumb|Book scanner in the digitization lab at the University of Liège, Belgium]]
Academic and public libraries, foundations, and private companies like [[Google Books|Google]] are scanning older print books and applying [[optical character recognition]] (OCR) technologies so they can be keyword searched, but as of 2006, only about 1 in 20 texts had been digitized.<ref name="abc"/><ref>Google. (2004, December 14). ''Google checks out library books'' [Press release]. http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/12/google-checks-out-library-books.html</ref> Librarians and archivists are working to increase this statistic and in 2019 began digitizing 480,000 books published between 1923 and 1964 that had entered the public domain.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |last3= |first3= |last4= |first4= |title=Libraries & Archivists Are Digitizing 480,000 Books Published in 20th Century That Are Secretly in the Public Domain {{!}} Open Culture |url=https://www.openculture.com/2019/09/libraries-archivists-are-digitizing-480000-books.html |access-date=2023-04-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Unpublished manuscripts and other rare papers and documents housed in special collections are being digitized by [[libraries]] and [[archives]], but backlogs often slow this process and keep materials with enduring historical and research value hidden from most users (see [[digital libraries]]).<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1080/0361526X.2017.1329178 | title=Improving Access and "Unhiding" the Special Collections | year=2017 | last1=Tam | first1=Marcella | journal=The Serials Librarian | volume=73 | issue=2 | pages=179–185 | s2cid=196043867 }}</ref> Digitization has not completely replaced other archival imaging options, such as  [[microfilm]]ing which is still used by institutions such as the National Archives and Records Administration ([[National Archives and Records Administration|NARA]]) to provide preservation and access to these resources.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-15 |title=Microfilm |url=https://www.archives.gov/preservation/formats/microfilming.html |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=CMCCONNELL |date=2013-08-16 |title=1. Microforms in Libraries and Archives |url=https://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/collect/serials/microforms01 |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) |language=en}}</ref>

While digital versions of analog texts can potentially be accessed from anywhere in the world, they are not as stable as most print materials or manuscripts and are unlikely to be accessible decades from now without further preservation efforts, while many books manuscripts and scrolls have already been around for centuries.<ref name=":114"/> However, for some materials that have been damaged by water, insects, or catastrophes, digitization might be the only option for continued use.<ref name=":114"/>